Faculty
We believe every student deserves great training that supports his/her personal goals. GBAD takes pride in providing a well educated and professional faculty to elevate the learning experience of our dancers. Every class is taught by a qualified faculty member who is highly trained, a current or former professional dancer, and/or holds a degree in dance. All members are carefully selected by School Director, Elisa Gerasin, and come from diverse backgrounds to teach an age appropriate curriculum and strong technique foundation.
Elisa Gerasin
Ballet, Pointe, Variations, Contemporary
The Director of Faculty and founder of GBAD is Elisa Gerasin. Born in Mexico City, Ms. Gerasin received her early ballet training at Victoria Ballet in Guadalajara, Jalisco. From 1993-1997, her training continued at various Ballet Companies including Cubalet, Boston Ballet, 12th and 13th International Ballet Seminar Lake Michigan, Pittsburgh Vaganova Seminar, Point Park College, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School, and Colorado Ballet.Elisa's professional performing career spans from 1993-present. She has performed with Colorado Ballet, Victoria Ballet, Jose Mateo Ballet Theater Company, Ballet Theatre Workshop, Portland Ballet Company, Arts Rochester, and Ballet New England. She has danced in several productions such as: Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Bayardere, Paquita, Giselle, Pas de Quatre, Don Quixote, Le Fille Mal Garde, Romeo and Juliet, Diana and Action, Night Before Christmas, The Wizard of Oz, and Raymonda.
Ms. Gerasin started teaching beginner students in 1993 and has continued to bring her broad ballet training and knowledge to students of all abilities. Since 2001, she has taught in various Seacoast studios including Ballet Theatre Workshop, Arts Rochester, Ballet New England, Fusion Dance Academy, Brixham Dance, and New Hampshire Academy of Performing Arts.
Elisa recently left the competition dance setting to start GBAD because of her concern for a quality dance education, in a non-competitive setting, in the Seacoast area.
Linda Swiniuch
PreBallet, Modern
Linda Swiniuch is a Professor Emeritus and the founder director of University at Buffalo - The State University of New York's Dance Department and its companies. While serving as Chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance, she secured B.A. and B.F.A. Dance degrees, Music Theatre and Theatre B.F.A. degrees, an updated Theatre B.A. degree, and initiated the Graduate Dance Program. Her professional background includes performance, choreography, teaching, directing, and consulting. She has served with the New York State Council on the Arts, The New York Foundation for the Arts, Young Audiences, Inc., The Arts in Education Institute of Western New York (an affiliate of Lincoln Center Institute), Artpark, The Creative Education Foundation, and multiple school systems. Her dance study includes The School of American Ballet (New York City Ballet), American Ballet Theatre, the Royal Academy of Ballet, modern dance in Graham, Cunningham, Limon, Humphrey-Weidman, Hawkins and Taylor, theatrical, historical, social dance forms, and several alignment and relaxation systems.
Amberlee Timm
Modern, Pilates, Yoga, Fusion
Amberlee Timm's early dance education was at Petit Papillon School of Ballet in Concord, NH under Pat Walker and Kelly Stuart. Her ballet training in Vaganova and different styles of modern with PPSB gave her opportunities to perform in London and dance original works during her teen years. She attended many different prestigious summer dance programs including the Hartford Ballet, The International Ballet Competition in Jackson MS, Bates Dance Festival, Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet and others.In 2006 she received her BFA in Modern Dance from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase in New York where she trained in ballet under Tedd Kivitt, Betty Jane Sills, Rosanna Seravalli and Richard Cook. As a Modern Dance major she had extensive Graham, Cunningham and Taylor technique training with teachers like Stephanie Tooman, Larry Clark, Megan Williams, Kevin Wynn and Neil Greenberg. Her college studies also included classes in music, dance history and 8 semester of choreography under Kazuko Hirabayashi. Through her professional dance career she traveled across the US and all over the world including Hong Kong, Spain, and London and has had the privilege to work with many amazing choreographers such as Mark Morris, Kevin Wynn, Nathan Trice, Megan Williams and more.
In addition to joining and performing with Neoteric Dance Collaborative out of Boston MA in 2008, Ms. Timm began teaching and choreographing original works for Ballet New England as well as teaching as a guest teacher/choreographer at Phillips Exeter Academy and Bewick Academy. Amberlee was introduced to yoga at an early age through different dance endeavors and has been practicing ever since. Yoga began as a way to maintain flexibility and stamina as a dancer but she soon found that it had much more to offer then just a wonderful work out. Yoga was the start of a spiritual practice that came from within. This inspired her to pursue her teacher training and in 2007, she became a certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher and then a Rasamaya Yoga teacher in 2009. Amberlee has studied many forms of yoga including Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow and Jivamukti. Amberlee received her Power Pilates Mat certification in 2008 to yet again fulfill her eagerness to find more of another expression of mind and body awareness.
Her goal as both a yoga and dance teacher is to share the joy of discovery of one's own body through movement and to guide students to relish the wisdom that comes from within as their connection to self deepens.
Allison Duke
Ballet, Contemporary, PreBallet
Allison Duke hails from Rochester NY and started her serious dance training at the age of 10 with Southold Dance Theatre in Indiana. Upon relocating to New Hampshire she continued her dance education under Mihailo Djuric, Susan Duffy, Christine Simes and Elisa Gerasin of Ballet Theatre Workshop. She attended prestigious summer programs such as The Rock School, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Jeannette Neill’s Boston Summer Dance Festival, working with notable dance educators such as; Edward Villella, Donald McKayle and Darla Hoover. Ms. Duke graduated from the University of Utah in 2006 with a B.F.A. in Ballet, emphasis in Pedagogy; and a B.A. in Mass Communications, emphasis in News Writing. In Utah she studied with Conrad Ludlow, Sharee Lane, Attila Ficzere and Richard Wacko, among others. Ms. Duke has performed with Portland Ballet, Ballet New England and Eidolon Ballet at venues such as The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH; the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre in New York City and Boston’s Government Center. In 2006, Ms. Duke began teaching at Ballet New England in addition to choreographing for the school and the youth company. She also teaches as a guest instructor at Phillips Exeter Academy. Ms. Duke currently dances with Neoteric Dance Collaborative and has performed in Harvard Square and at New York’s City Center, with the company. In addition to performing and teaching, Ms. Duke is an accomplished freelance dance writer. Her work is published in issues of Dance Spirit, Dance Teacher, and Pointe Magazine.
Ashleigh Tucker
Ashleigh Tucker was born in New Haven, CT and raised in coastal New Hampshire while training at Ballet New England and the Center for Dance Education. She attended workshops and intensives with American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, Bossov Ballet, and Alonzo King's LINES Ballet. Ashleigh graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Purchase in 2006 with a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and a minor in Lighting Design. She was also the recipient of the Dean's Award for the Conservatory of Dance. Upon graduation, Ashleigh joined Patrick Corbin's "Corbindances" Dance Company in New York City and performed professionally in both New York and other national venues. Working with Patrick, Ashleigh was also able to teach outreach lessons through movement to children with autism.Angela Grassie
Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Intro To Movement, Creative Dance, Mommy and Me
Angela Rose Grassie grew up in New Hampshire where she started dancing at Corinne’s School of Dance at the age of two. Angela has traveled all over the USA and Canada attending dance competitions and winning the Overall Awards for her solo and group routines. After graduating from Coe Brown Northwood Academy, Angela moved to New York City to pursue her dance training at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway. Angela was then invited to be a Rockette Teacher Assistant for the Rockette Experiences and the Rockette Summer Intensive in New York City. Angela is featured in Dancers Inc. promotional Hip Hop music video, choreographed by Shaun “Dante” Royer. In 2007, Angela joined Ballet New England’s company and performed in the Nutcracker as the lead Spanish dancer, Flower corps and Snow corps. That following spring, Angela was invited to perform with Ballet New England’s modern company who performed with the Funky Divas of Gospel. Recently, she choreographed for Sophisticated Productions performing Dance Team in Wildwood, New Jersey.Corrine Allaire
Tap
Corinne Allaire was a Radio City Music Hall Rockette in New York for eight years. She also toured with the Rockettes in Chicago IL, Fort Worth TX and Las Vegas, NV. Television and performance appearances include: “Night of 100 Stars” (CBS), “Liberty Weekend” (ABC), the NYC Sheraton Center and the NYC Hilton for the Alumni Charity Ball. Corinne is currently a member of the Rockette Alumni. She has been has been a Sophisticated Productions dance competition adjudicator since 1999 and a a Master Teacher and Choreographer on the competition circuit.Corinne has studied dance throughout New England, New York and Canada. She owned, directed and taught dance at Dance Workshop of Deer Park in Long Island, NY for seven years. She then moved to New Hampshire and opened Corinne’s School of Dance in Rochester, NH in 1989 which allows her to share her passion for dance with her students.
